Schools are increasingly expecting parents to fork out to provide digital devices like laptops and Chromebooks as they move into an era of digital teaching, but they are keen not to be held liable for any damage to those devices.

“A Parent’s Guide to Instagram” is an initiative by the social media giant and online safety organisation Netsafe. It gives parents tips to help their children protect themselves online – whether they have 20 followers or 200,000.

Opinion

If you’re looking for something to do on the day we celebrate the birth of a vibrant, young nation, you could take a peek at the New Zealand Curriculum. It’s the blueprint for how we teach our children and future leaders, from year 1 all the way to year 13.

On the contents page you’ll find references to “learning areas”. The usual subjects are there: English, maths and science; there’s also mention of the arts, physical education and technology. But not one reference to history.

A presentation of the Ministry of Education’s strategic plan for early learning was delivered to educators in Gisborne this week. Education Minister Chris Hipkins launched the draft plan, He taonga te tamaiti (Every child a taonga), in November. It sets the direction for early learning for the next 10 years and is open for consultation until March 15.

Opinion

After much disappointment from the community, industry and local leaders around the liquidation of Taratahi, what is critical now is that we collectively look forward to how we can best provide for agricultural training and skills in the Wairarapa.

It’s a long time since I read anything quite as chilling as this: “Those schools that don’t need it also have obligations to other schools in the system, and they need to contribute their expertise to other schools. They need to be part of the system.”

A massive drive to recruit foreign teachers to fill gaps in schools is costing taxpayers about $10,000 for every teacher recruited. The Ministry of Education has approved overseas relocation grants worth $1.3 million for 200 foreign teachers and 81 returning Kiwis since December 2017.

More than 250,000 New Zealand students regularly missed school last year, with year 13 girls taking the most time off. The latest Ministry of Education attendance survey showed regular attendance declined notably in the secondary school years, plummeting to 41.7 per cent in year 13 girls.

Western medicine says many Māori and most Pasifika people are obese. Some people are angry about the system that ‘fat-shames’ them in this way. Others are focused on finding solutions that actually work.

Claims of physical abuse and bullying at a large girls’ school have been poorly handled and dismissed by staff, former students say. Farah Hancock spoke to their parents about what happened, and the ensuing exodus of girls to a nearby school.

The lawyer for a group of Indian students deported from New Zealand over fake visas has slammed Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her silence after she promised to help them should Labour win the 2017 election.

The school holidays have run later than usual for many families this summer. Some schools have returned this week but many are waiting until Monday and some will not restart classes until Thursday, after Waitangi Day.

Media releases

Early Childhood New Zealand: With the first term of this school year about to begin, there have been several news stories on the teacher recruitment challenges that schools are facing. What these articles forget to mention are the similar challenges being faced by early childhood education services and centres.

No statistics are available, but several principals say they have opted not to start classes until after Waitangi Day because of the heat at this time of year, combined with parents wanting to work up till Christmas at the other end of the year.

While there’s a growing focus on student mental health, educators say the teacher shortage crisis is taking a toll on their own mental wellbeing. Those who left the profession in 2018 have detailed the stress, workload and lack of work-life balance as reasons for quitting.

The Education Gazette lists 134 vacancies spread across 87 Auckland schools, 15 per cent of the region’s 565 schools. However the teacher shortage appears to have eased since this time last year, when 108 Auckland schools, or one in five schools, were still advertising for teachers.

An academic course for Māori high school students is proving so popular there’s a waiting list to join. But there is little hope they’ll be able to sign up next year because the Ministry of Education won’t fund the programme.

In the Bike it Forward campaign, Bike Barn is asking New Zealanders to donate bicycles their children have outgrown or no longer use. Donated bikes will be given an overhaul by Bike Barn mechanics and then given to less advantaged kids and schools around the country, through the TRYathlon Foundation.

Opinion

If we look at other parts of the world, it is clear what international education contributes – and has the potential to contribute. We need to ensure that the full contribution of international education is recognised here too, and that the valuable role education plays in internationalisation and connecting New Zealand with the rest of the world is understood and embraced.

Media releases

MoE: In October 2018, the Government released an expanded teacher supply package to meet forecast the rising level of demand. This focused on meeting the immediate need through a blend of initiatives to increase supply of New Zealand trained teachers as well as provide a pool of qualified overseas trained teachers. Currently, our recruiters are working to fill 281 lodged roles, of which 152 are in Auckland. These 281 roles are for Term 1.

The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa and Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) signalled the possibility of sector-wide industrial action before the Christmas holiday break but have come into the New Year tight-lipped about a Term 1 mega strike.

It was designed to let schools offer a variety of kinds of education and then let the “consumers” (students and their parents) choose between them. But in practice, under the 1989 Tomorrow’s Schools system, families have chosen based mainly on the wealth of their communities – their decile ratings.

In this increasingly globalized landscape, schools face significant challenges. Researchers have documented lower educational outcomes such as student achievement and graduation rates for immigrant students in the majority of countries around the world.

In response to these outcomes, more research is being devoted to understanding and supporting conditions for equitable learning. Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) is one idea to support these conditions. CRT is concerned with teaching methods and practices that recognize the importance of including students’ cultural backgrounds in all aspects of learning.

A proposal from the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) to take over Telford from beleaguered Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre went to Education Minister Chris Hipkins on Friday, and will be considered in cabinet on Monday.

Voice-controlled artificial intelligence systems, and even robots, have become more common in our everyday lives; from Siri, Apple’s “intelligent personal assistant”, to WoeBot, the chatbot therapist, to Travelmate, the suitcase that uses GPS to stay close to your connected smartphone.

As they proliferate, how should we properly address, and relate, to these virtual beings?

Parents at a south Auckland school no longer have to worry about buying stationery or paying donations. Rowandale Primary School in Manurewa has scrapped its request for an annual donation and is providing free stationery for every student.

Principal Belinda Johnston knows of students that are without uniforms or regular meals. When the bell sounds for the start of the school year at south Auckland’s Anchorage Park School some of the chairs are likely to be empty, principal Belinda Johnston says.

It’s not that the decile three Pakuranga primary is struggling to fill its roll, rather that many parents will feel self-conscious about sending their kids to school hungry.

It’s that time of year: school’s country wide are opening their doors for a new year. It can come as a welcome relief to parents after the long summer break, but it can cause anxiety in kids. How does a parent cope with that?

Gwendoline Smith is a clinical psychologist, speaker, blogger and author. She also works closely with the Faculty of Education at the University of Auckland to provide guidance to school councillors.

Media releases

NZEI: Surveys* of teachers and principals who quit the profession last year show they left mainly due to a lack of work/life balance and burnout from high workload. The survey respondents included 169 primary and 201 secondary teachers and principals.

Schools begin to reopen next week under the threat of industrial action by both primary and secondary teachers. That’s despite direct talks between the primary teachers union and the Education Minister, Chris Hipkins, over the holidays in an attempt to resolve the deadlock that last year resulted in two strikes by teachers and principals. (RNZ Audio)

What does mathematics look like in your daily life? Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Education at Massey University Dr Jodie Hunter talks to Kathryn Ryan about how parents can help their children learn to love and understand maths by spotting the patterns all around them. (RNZ Audio)

The Mind Lab: In a bid to help support educational equity across New Zealand, The Mind Lab is offering full-tuition scholarships for their Postgraduate Certificate in Digital & Collaborative Learning to the first 100 teachers working in decile 1-3 schools for the March 2019 intake.

Chris Hipkins believes it would be unjustified for teachers to strike again. The Education Minister has been in negotiations with the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) over the last week, and further discussions are expected with NZEI, the primary school teachers union.

“We are happy to talk to them about how we can reconfigure [the offers] to meet their needs but the ability of Government to continue to add to the offer is constrained,” he told The AM Show on Tuesday.

Traditional six-monthly school reports to parents may be axed in a revamped school curriculum with more localised teaching topics. A review group on curriculum, progress and achievement, set up to develop new ideas for primary schools after national standards were abolished in 2017, wants parents to get real-time digital information about their children’s learning instead of traditional reports.

A primary school principal says digital reports cards could be better for kids and parents but would mean more work for teachers. Education Minister Chris Hipkins is considering giving traditional report cards the axe – after a primary school review group suggested going digital.

Parents spending up large on digital devices for their children’s schoolwork, should get tax rebates, ex-school principal Graham Prentice believes. Around half of schools (48 per cent) have “bring your own device” (BYOD) policies, according to research done for Ministry of Education by private market intelligence company IDC.

What do maps do? That seems easy: they locate you in space. But they can also put you in time. Ngāi Tahu’s innovative Kā Huru Manu is one of those maps. As an interactive cultural mapping project, online at kahurumanu.co.nz, it layers original Māori place names and travel routes (known as kā ara tawhito) over the familiar shape of the South Island, restoring its lost histories.

Data supplied by the Teaching Council under the Official Information Act shows that teachers were barred temporarily or permanently for 128 matters of sexual behaviour or contact and 59 matters of “inappropriate behaviour (sexual non-contact, etc)” in the five years to the end of 2018.

Media releases

NZEI: Learning Support Service Managers, the Education Ministry staff responsible for the allocation and management of support services for children with additional learning needs, are set to take strike action from Monday [21 January] after a bid to gain parity with other managers employed by the Ministry of Education failed.

NZGovt: Obesity, poorer motor skills, hyperactivity problems and poor sleep are just some of the effects that may be experienced by pre-school children who exceed New Zealand’s screen-time guidelines, according to a study funded by the Ministry of Social Development’s Children and Families Research Fund.

Ministry of Education: The Ministry of Education will continue to support principals with their teaching vacancies beyond the start of the first term and well into the school year with a range of supply initiatives.

Maori council: Maori Kids to start the school year more behind than ever before: rise of the digital divide In this press release: an overview of the problem faced, solutions for Government to consider and tips for parents to try and cover the costs involved. The new school …Maori Kids to start the school year more behind than ever before: rise of the digital divide.

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This blog is New Zealand Council for Educational Research's media monitoring site. The purpose of this blog is to provide readers with a daily listing of all education related stories that appear in New Zealand’s media space. The news content, editorials, or items listed on these pages do not represent NZCER’s opinions in any shape or form.

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